I ran into a few noobs online the other night (and before I continue, I should admit that I'm only a player of average skill). They were probably just some kids with nothing else to do on school holidays, but even still, I didn't want to spoil their fun - or turn them off the game entirely - by fragging the crap out of them.
When alone with new players, my usual approach is to just leave them be and go for the bots. But this time all the bots were replaced by humans, so I switched to plan B - which is just to camp in an open spot and take potshots as they all run by (which I kind of enjoy actually). Also, less frags/min and less strafe jumping = less cheating accusations and hostility.
Anyway, to cut it short they got curious as to how I managed to get onto the roof of DM4ISH and started asking questions. On some maps the places I reached looked impossible to them - but of course are not unfamiliar to most rocket jumpers I presume. And so began a small impromptu demonstration of rocket jumps and other, more appropriate stuff. Ending up, they left quite satisfied after learning something and enjoying themselves and I was glad I could show them what they wanted to know. Even if they never return, I wouldn't regret spending the time because it was worth a try to keep them interested.
First thing: I think it's becoming increasingly more uncommon to see persistent newcomers who are genuinely interested in learning something, sticking with it and improving their game instead of getting fed up/disillusioned and never coming back. Where are you all? New players aren't sticking around. Am I wrong about that? I think the best approach is to say something to the noobs if they stay for a while (while being as unassuming as possible). They might just stay longer. When I was starting in OA, I was given a few pointers by a really good player and I never looked back.
Second thing: You guys (the dudes I met - I forget your handles now, sorry) wanted to see the most obscure locations I go to. If you actually do read these forums as I suggested, you can download the demos I made and see how I get to them all. Also read RAZ3R's tutorials here:
http://openarena.ws/board/index.php?topic=1651.0 and here:
http://openarena.ws/board/index.php?topic=1690.0 - they're much, much better than I could deliver - and he spells "armour" properly too. ;-)
I really doubt they'll read this, but maybe someone else can make use of the demos if they don't. They're not too spectacular though, being my first ones, but it's good practice trying to get to a few of these locations. Does anyone know of other hard to reach places?
But I'd really like to know what you think about the lack of persistent new players.
